Brick beats injury to cement the 10m crown (From Echo)

Brick beats injury to cement the 10m crown

11:55am Monday 30th January 2012 in Other Sport

MAX Brick was thrilled to be crowned national 10 metre platform champion at the Southend Swimming and Diving Centre yesterday after initially fearing he may have to pull out of the final with a calf injury.

The 19-year-old from Southamp-ton picked up the problem during the preliminaries in the morning.

And he was not sure if he would be able to take any further part in the competition.

“My calf was pretty sore and at one stage I thought I might have to pull out,” said Brick, who won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games when diving with Tom Daley in the 10m platform synchro.

“But a few hours’ rest and some treatment from the physiotherapists meant I was able to take part in the final and I’m obviously delighted to have won it and be the national champion for the first time in my career.”

Brick finished first with 418.70 points, ahead of his nearest challenger, James Denny from the City of Leeds Diving Club, who scored 386.20 points.

But Brick was not completely satisfied by his display.

“It was a good performance rather than great,” said the youngster. “I finished third last year though so I’m pleased to have won this time.”

Brick took full advantage of both Tom Daley and his club-mate Pete Waterfield pulling out injured to come out on top.

However, he insisted he may have performed better with them in the competition.

“I did miss having them there because I raise my game when they compete,” added Brick.